Dashcam Recommendations?

[Captain Obvious]

So I almost lost the Z this afternoon. I probably would not have been hurt, at least not seriously, but the car would have suffered significantly.

With that in mind, does anyone have a recommendation for a dashcam that they like?

[Car54280ZX]

OMG! We can't loose your Z !! Just glad you saved it! 

Hope you have good antique car insurance.

I'm also looking for a dash cam. Hopefully others can contribute for the benefit of many others. Time to put it into the garage for the winter?

[wheee!]

DDPai 2 is a good one for around $100. 1440p and remote snapshot button. Wi-Fi to your phone and instant transfers. eBay have them.

[SteveJ]

For the last couple of years, I've been playing around with action cameras. Most of the ones I have purchased can double as a dash cam, though without some of the extra features. For instance, you can have it record with a time and date stamp and loop record in 3 or 5 minute intervals. Most of the "4K" action cameras can accept a 64GB mini SD card. You can choose settings to turn on/off when plugged/unplugged into external power, and many have a setting to start recording on a shock sensor. A lot of them have stabilization settings to reduce the effects of vibration.

Most of these cameras have wifi connectivity so you can connect it to your smart phone...Oh, never mind, @Captain Obvious?

I have two of these and use one as a dash cam in my daily driver: https://www.amazon.com/DBPOWER-DB0923-Underwater-Rechargeable-Accessories/dp/B07314N12V. For that price, you could get two and have cameras front & rear. You would also probably want a windshield mount like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DW9UBDM to attach it to your windshield 

[Captain Obvious]

Thanks for the input guys. And yes, the smart phone features are lost on me, at least until or unless... well you know.   

So how about some input on features and failures? What is some of the stuff that makes one a great choice over another? I've heard the cheap-o cameras are useless because they aren't wide angle enough.

wheee! , What's a snapshot button? Just the ability to take a still pic from your phone?

SteveJ, And the shock sensor thingie... If it's running constantly in a loop, then what's the shock sensor for? Is that for when unattended like in a parking lot or something?

[wheee!]

Check this one out

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.ca%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F192621542877

It’s small enough to be out of the way, but has all the features you need. Action cams are great, but these are purpose built for dash cam use.
The snapshot button lets you grab a still image while it’s recording video. Your phone is just the way you view the files from the camera versus a crappy little display on the camera of some other brands.

[Captain Obvious]

So I have some errands to run today and take the Z out. I take my still camera along with me because I figure that since this might be the last time I drive the Z this season, I might take a nice pic of the car at a park or something. They are going to be salting the roads again soon and figure it would be nice to post a pic on maybe my last drive of the season.

Anyway, I'm still running yesterday's near-miss over and over again in my head, and I pull up to a traffic light behind this car. Yes... They're sitting at a red light. In reverse. Waiting for the light to turn green so they can stab the throttle and fly backwards into the front of my Z because they forgot they were in reverse    :

Thankfully, when the light turned green and they let off the brake, they noticed their error before tragedy happened, but I'm really starting to wonder. I don't know if everyone is just crazy due to the holiday season or what, but I'm wondering if I should just park the Z now.

** Fifty bonus points for the name of the movie in which a similar scene occurred. I spent about a half hour searching for it, but just can't put my finger on it. Driver had backed up for some reason and subsequently forgot the car was in reverse... Another car pulled up next to them and taunted them into a race? Light turned green and they slammed into the car behind them.

What was the movie????

Not American Graffiti. Not Hollywood Knights. Not Porky's. Not Animal House. Just can't come up with it and it's bugging me!

[Patcon]

I am not sure that the invention of the smart phone and texting has improved American's driving skills!

[psdenno]

One would think that it wouldn't be too difficult to employ a phone's motion sensor and a NFC chip in the steering wheel to block phone use in the driver's seat while the car was moving.  But, that would probably add 75¢ to the cost of every new car so it probably won't happen.

Dennis

[grannyknot]

9 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

They're sitting at a red light. In reverse.

Wealthy soccer Mom playing with her phone no doubt, I see this sort of thing everyday in traffic which is why I have a dash cam running all the time.  The Province of Ontario has a law against driving while using any hand held device but almost no one pays any attention to the law and continue to use them.  

But I just received a note with my vehicle insurance renewal that states Insurance companies in Ontario at least now consider a ticket for using a hand held device a major conviction and will result in an annual increase of your premium by 40%!  Now that may actually produce some positive results.

 

[Captain Obvious]

Yeah, I couldn't tell if they were on a cell phone or not, but whatever the deal was, I was happy they drifted backwards just a little bit when the light turned green and they let off the brake. Just enough to get them to realize they were in reverse.

I wanted to hit my horn to try to get their attention, but was afraid that it would make them think the light turned green and make them stab the gas harder and quicker. So there I sat... Looking in my rear view mirror thinking that I had a couple feet I could use to back up closer to the car behind me if necessary. Anyway, it turned out to be a non-event, but just that this shite is happening day after day after day.

As for the cell phone stuff, I don't think they can legislate it out of use. It's already illegal most everywhere and not much has changed. I know people who won't text while their car is actually moving, but at every red light they're checking their phone while stopped. They say "I wasn't driving, I was sitting".

I think if the car is on a public road in traffic and you're sitting in the driver's seat, then you're "driving". And to support that argument... It would be illegal for a twelve year old kid with no driver's license to do that. Regardless if the car is moving at that instant or not. Why? Because he doesn't have a driver's license.

Enough ranting... So nobody can pull me out of my abyss trying to come up with that movie scene? I just spent another half hour looking for it.

One car is sitting still and another car comes up next to them in the other lane. There are teasing words exchanged, the light turns green, and one of the cars goes forward while the other goes backwards and slams into the car behind them? And I think you were supposed to think it was funny that the other guy did that? Like he was the "bad guy" in the movie? Is that the antagonist? Protagonist?

Where's @siteunseen when you need him... He's seen all the same stupid movies I have.

[siteunseen]

Super Troopers?  Dazed and Confused?  Smokey and the Bandit, Buford T. Justice?

Better of Dead?  Slams into a car in front but not in reverse.  So many stupid movies, so few brain cells!  Good luck, sleep well tonight.